About The Frame®

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A daily chronicle of creativity in film, TV, music, arts and entertainment produced by Southern California Public Radio. Host John Horn leads the conversation, accompanied by the nation's most plugged-in cultural journalists.

In terms of box office grosses, "Black Panther" could be one of the biggest films ever made.

But it’s also significant because the story behind those dollars represents something bigger — namely, a diverse audience unlike any previous film superhero tale. It's just as rare for a film by a black director (in this case, Ryan Coogler) with a cast that's almost entirely comprised of black actors. During opening weekend, the audience included a nearly equal percentage of black and white ticket buyers. Latinos also showed up in large numbers.

"Black Panther," which is a standalone Marvel movie, actually has more significant female characters in it than any other Marvel movie . I think that's significant and I think that points to a whole lot of outdated thinking about what works in superhero movies.

In general, Buchanan says that "Black Panther” is a lesson to Hollywood to be less conservative. But it's been taught that message before:

All that talk about whether black movies can travel overseas or whether they can open up to these numbers — it's just bunk until somebody comes along and disproves it. As far as I'm concerned, this was disproven decades ago when Will Smith was a huge global superstar. But too often, Hollywood will forget the lessons and they'll look for the most conservative path possible.